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Here are some online tools that will help you better prepare for your next night under the stars. For the more adventurous, they will help you plan your next trip to chase the moon's shadow!
Rising and setting times of the Sun and Moon
- Sunrise/sunset calculator by the National Research Council Canada
- Sunrise/sunset and moonrise/moonset calculator by the Astronomical Applications Department of the U.S. Naval Observatory (Washington, D.C.)
Light pollution
Is your favourite observing site really dark?
- What is light pollution?
- Check out this interactive map of light pollution .
Weather
Will the stars be visible tonight?
- Weather forecast for astronomy (Numerical simulations produced by the Canadian Meteorological Centre — CMC)
- Attila Danko's Clear Sky Charts (synoptic graphs based on CMC's data): Montréal, Quebec City, Trois-Rivières, Saguenay, Ottawa/Gatineau
- Environment Canada's weather forecasts
- Satellite and radar images.
Eclipses of the Sun and Moon
The NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center eclipse website is arguably THE reference about eclipses. Contains maps and detailed predictions.
- Eclipses of the Sun and Moon for the upcoming years
- All solar eclipses from -1999 to +3000
- All lunar eclipses from -1999 to +3000
Artificial satellites
Where and when to look to see the International Space Station (ISS) and other artificial satellites.
- Heavens-Above.com, a site hosted by the German Space Agency's Space Operations Centre (DLR/GSOC), produces detailed visibility predictions for any place on Earth (text and maps):
- Visibility of artificial satellites from Montréal, Québec City, Trois-Rivières and Ottawa.
- Create your own personalized start page and get custom predictions for your favourite observing sites.
- NASA's predictions for passes of the International Space Station (text only).
Solar activity and aurora borealis
- Space Weather Canada
- Spaceweather.com provides a daily follow-up on solar activity, and issues warnings when the probability of auroral displays is high; includes beautiful photo galleries.
- Space Environment Center: real-time data about solar and geomagnetic activity.